re: #39 researchok

I don’t think there’s any one easy answer for this. Shame is definitely a part of it, but there’s constantly a reset button pushed when it comes to development. The West has historically stuck its nose in the Middle East for political reasons but more recently because of our addiction to oil. Stability is more profitable than instability. Whether or not you want to dismiss the U.S. overall history in the Middle East as heavy-handed, self-interested, and lacking nuance, the Arab world does need to look within and figure out some of these problems of imperialism, authoritarianism, and modernity/development for themselves.

It’s interesting to mention that Anwar Sadat was hailed as a hero despite losing the Yom Kippur War. The Arab world considers that a victory and restoring dignity to their country. And if these protests, not just in Egypt but across the Middle East, aren’t about restoring dignity, I don’t know what they’re about. Perhaps what we are witnessing isn’t merely a movement against poverty, joblessness, and dictatorships, but a more significant transition to modernity. Implementing democracy is not just long and slow but it also a grassroots process.